Which again makes you very much like my DD, generally speaking-- if ironically so, in this instance. We present as "probably conservative" at a casual glance; we home-educate, we are very strict about 'age-appropriate' dress, conduct, and behavior, and we encourage respect for rules and authority figures. We also love politics and love to debate and think about complexity.
She comes as a COMPLETE shock to most of her friends; but only if they ever get her to open up about her actual socio-economic or policy opinions. Mostly she just smiles and makes non-committal statements while they espouse THEIR opinions to her, and recalls them later with no small amount of amusement while they continue to assume that she agrees with them.
She definitely feels a bit threatened in a school setting like this one, because it leans decidedly conservative (both social and economic) and free-market Libertarian. Her views on religion, economics, sociology, and politics are all at odds with 99% of her classmates, at least a fourth of the relevent curriculum, and even with many teachers.
On the one hand, we usually feel that this is a good thing-- because it lends her better listening skills, better PEOPLE skills in navigating that kind of environment, and more compassion for those who hold minority perspectives. She also doesn't hold opinions that she doesn't have internal reasons for, and NEVER takes a stand firmly without thinking it through analytically. On the other, it's isolating as an adolescent to feel that you're a freak or that your views lend you a sort of martyrdom.
